[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[April 4, 1996]
[Page 543]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Memorial Service for Secretary of Commerce
Ronald H. Brown
April 4, 1996

    Ladies and gentlemen, we just had a very moving memorial service not 
only to grieve but to celebrate the life of Secretary Brown and the 
other employees of the National Government, our military people, and the 
business leaders who were on that mission. We thanked God for their 
lives, we prayed for their families, and we came together in our grief 
and rededication. And we pointed out that it was 28 years ago on this 
day that Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, working for what he 
believed in.
    Today I spoke with the parents of one of the young women who died 
who worked for the Department of Commerce, who said they had spent their 
careers as schoolteachers, raising their daughter to believe that she 
could make a difference and that she ought to try. And they were very 
proud that she died doing what she believed in, trying to aid the peace 
in Bosnia.
    And so that is how we are trying to think about this very difficult 
thing on this beautiful spring day in Easter Week.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. outside St. John's Church, 
Lafayette Square.